Monday, June 04, 2007

17 US service members killed in Iraq since start of June

On Sunday, the U.S. military announced that a series of other bombings and shootings, most of them in and around Baghdad, took the lives of 14 soldiers and wounded 24 since Friday. May was the third-deadliest month for American troops in Iraq since the 2003 invasion, and the casualties in the past few days indicate that the insurgency shows no sign of abating.

The U.S. military on Sunday announced the deaths of 14 soldiers in the last three days, a heavy toll that underscored the increased exposure of American forces as reinforcements push deeper into war-torn neighborhoods of Baghdad and outlying areas in a bid to flush out militants.Northeast of the Iraqi capital, a car bomb exploded about 200 yards from the entrance of a U.S. military base, unleashing a noxious cloud of chlorine gas that sickened at least 62 soldiers but caused no injuries, the military said. All of those exposed returned to duty the same day.The use of chlorine to turn an ordinary bomb into a chemical weapon has become a signature tactic of insurgents fighting U.S. and Iraqi forces in Al Anbar province, west of Baghdad. But Sunday's attack was believed to be the first time the method was used in Diyala province. At least 62 Iraqis were found dead or reported killed in bomb blasts, gunfights and other violence across the country, including a priest and three bishops slain by gunmen in the northern city of Mosul.

The rising pace of American troops deaths escalated this weekend as 14 more servicemen were reported killed in Iraq, all but one from makeshift bombs that insurgents have been employing with greater lethality against American soldiers and armored vehicles. Twenty-one soldiers and an Iraqi interpreter were wounded.

A car bomb attack outside a major U.S. military base in Iraq discharged a gaseous cloud that sickened dozens of people Sunday, punctuating a flurry of violence that left 16 American soldiers dead during the first three days of June.A 17th U.S. soldier, Staff Sgt. Juan Campos, died Friday in a military hospital in Texas, according to local news reports there. He had been injured by a roadside bomb near Baghdad in May.

On the front page of the New York Times, David S. Cloud and Damien Cave's "Push In Baghdad Is Short Of Goal, Commanders Say" reports on a one page (US military) assessment of the escalation which found that of the 457 neighborhoods in Baghdad, only 146 can be said to be under 'control' (US and Iraqi troops "maintain physical influence over").

About Me

We do not open attachments. Stop e-mailing them. Threats and abusive e-mail are not covered by any privacy rule. This isn't to the reporters at a certain paper (keep 'em coming, they are funny). This is for the likes of failed comics who think they can threaten via e-mails and then whine, "E-mails are supposed to be private." E-mail threats will be turned over to the FBI and they will be noted here with the names and anything I feel like quoting.
This also applies to anyone writing to complain about a friend of mine. That's not why the public account exists.